City of Denver, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and Salt Lake City receive grants to combat greenhouse gases

Projects among twenty nationwide receiving funds to combat climate change, save consumers money (Denver, Colo. – February 25, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that the City of Denver, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and Salt Lake City will receive grants to advance greenhouse gas reduction activities as part of the Agency’s Climate Showcase Communities initiative. These Region 8 grantees are among 20 U.S. communities, including two Indian Tribes, receiving a total of $7.8 million for projects that will reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). The funds will help communities increase energy efficiency, saving consumers money and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The City of Denver's Neighborhood Climate Prosperity Project will receive $491,156 to promote reductions of GHG emissions at the neighborhood level. Targeted efforts will include greening small businesses; expanding neighborhood sustainable mobility options; providing incentives to support clean energy; and engaging residents to reduce GHG emissions.

To reduce GHG emissions, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe will use $200,000 to partner with the National Wildlife Federation to transform the Tribal Environmental Protection Office and Head Start building into an energy-efficiency demonstration and training project. The building is one of the most inefficient buildings on the reservation, making it a priority for retrofits and green power projects. Contractors will implement these projects with support from tribal college students and community members. A training program will cover three sessions on energy audits, energy efficiency and small scale renewable energy.

To reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, Salt Lake City will use $368,554 to use community-based social marketing approaches to enhance existing vehicle travel reduction programs of the city, county, and state government. The tools developed will be used to assist other Utah communities with travel initiatives designed to reduce vehicle-miles travelled and GHG emissions.

“These communities see the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change and are working with EPA to fight back,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re working on innovative, win-win strategies that reduce greenhouse gases and cut energy bills for families and businesses -- strategies that can be put in place to fight climate change in communities from Utah and Ohio to China and India.”
The projects will target every aspects of a community’s carbon footprint, from increasing energy efficiency in homes and businesses, to helping residents save fuel by decreasing the number of miles they drive.

Preliminary calculations by the grant applicants estimate that by 2012 the projects will reduce about 135,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissionsannually—equivalent to the emissions from 25,000 passenger vehicles or 12,000 homes and save more than $4.5 million per year in energy costs. Several projects are expected to create or maintain jobs and provide green job training.

The funded communities are showing their commitment to combat climate change by contributing more than $5.6 million in matching or leveraged funds and committing to sharing lessons learned. Grantees selected for the Climate Showcase funds were also required to show their ability to achieve ongoing GHG reductions as well as to track, measure, and show progress toward their goals.

EPA will monitor the progress of grant recipients and will post quarterly updates about each recipient online. An additional $2.2 million is still under reviewand is expected to be awarded in the next few months to five additional local and tribal governments.

The Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program is administered by EPA, providing technical assistance, tools, and guidance to help state, local, and tribal governments implement policies and programs to mitigate climate change.